A use of the "i-" prefix. iMac still predates all three of those. One of them was used in an illegal knockoff of the iMac, in fact.

As I noted above, the public use of "iPhone" did predate "iMac". And if the Australian story is true, "iPod" predated both by several years.

Again, for those coming in late, we're just talking about how Apple's ad agency ( the ones who talked Jobs into using "iMac" instead of "MacMan" ) didn't make up the "i" prefix out of thin air.

It was almost an inside joke at that point in the industry to call something "i-this" or "i-that", to emphasize the public's new desire for Internet connectivity via so-called "internet appliances", or for interactivity such as video on demand.

This is why it doesn't automatically mean someone is copying Apple, just because they have an "i" prefix (e,g, "iNews"). It's the same as with the green phone icon... Apple itself was simply using a common industry icon/phrase. Apple loves taking something like that, and trying to make it their own for marketing purposes. It helps keep their products in people's minds. Very clever, similar to Microsoft using "Windows", or Apple later trying to trademark "Multi-touch".

As I noted above, the public use of "iPhone" did predate "iMac". And if the Australian story is true, "iPod" predated both by several years.

Again, for those coming in late, we're just talking about how Apple's ad agency ( the ones who talked Jobs into using "iMac" instead of "MacMan" ) didn't make up the "i" prefix out of thin air.

It was almost an inside joke at that point in the industry to call something "i-this" or "i-that", to emphasize the public's new desire for Internet connectivity via so-called "internet appliances", or for interactivity such as video on demand.

This is why it doesn't automatically mean someone is copying Apple, just because they have an "i" prefix (e,g, "iNews"). It's the same as with the green phone icon... Apple itself was simply using a common industry icon/phrase. Apple loves taking something like that, and trying to make it their own for marketing purposes. It helps keep their products in people's minds. Very clever, similar to Microsoft using "Windows", or Apple later trying to trademark "Multi-touch".

That said, I hope everyone is having a great holiday!

a) It doesn't really matter where the 'i' prefix comes from.

b) Nothing that you've written supports your assertion that it doesn't mean someone is copying Apple when they do it today. The history has nothing to do with why someone would choose to use it today.

c) No, it isn't the same as the white on green phone icon. Not only that, you haven't even established the thinnest of pretexts for why it would be the same, even ignoring the fact the your conclusion about the 'i' prefix is unwarranted.

The rest of your post is as nonsensical as usual from you. (The guy who claimed to have decades of touch screen programming experience and to have written a "browser engine" by yourself with your bare hands.)

The rest of your post is as nonsensical as usual from you. (The guy who claimed to have decades of touch screen programming experience and to have written a "browser engine" by yourself with your bare hands.)

Apple was a latecomer to a world full of known phone conventions. This was both good and bad. They could throw away some complications, but to be considered easy to learn, Apple also had to include certain items that would be understandable to people who'd been using cell phones for years.

One of the primary user symbols is the Answer/Send button. From the very first brick sized cell phone, a green handset has been its icon.

The handset symbol has been used in different orientations over the years. A left-leaning handset was favored by HTC on most of their phones, for example, as shown above. Others used a different orientation, but left looked good. Even Apple later picked the same left orientation as HTC, instead of picking something unique to themselves.

Now, good design meant that when moving that common symbol to an icon with a background color, it made the most sense to switch to a white handset on a green background. And sure enough, that's what Skype did before the iPhone, and so did Windows Mobile dialer skin makers years even before them:

In fact, the left-learning white handset on green background symbol had been used enough that Apple could not trademark the original plain version they showed at the iPhone introduction. Apple had to add background stripes to their trademark application in order to make it unique enough to register:

So, yes, Apple used a phone symbol that people would immediately understand from past experience. They did not go out on a limb and invent something entirely new, not even close.

Apple was a latecomer to a world full of known phone conventions. This was both good and bad. They could throw away some complications, but to be considered easy to learn, Apple also had to include certain items that would be understandable to people who'd been using cell phones for years.

One of the primary user symbols is the Answer/Send button. From the very first brick sized cell phone, a green handset has been its icon.

The handset symbol has been used in different orientations over the years. A left-leaning handset was favored by HTC on most of their phones, for example, as shown above. Others used a different orientation, but left looked good. Even Apple later picked the same left orientation as HTC, instead of picking something unique to themselves.

Now, good design meant that when moving that common symbol to an icon with a background color, it made the most sense to switch to a white handset on a green background. And sure enough, that's what Skype did before the iPhone, and so did Windows Mobile dialer skin makers years even before them:

In fact, the left-learning white handset on green background symbol had been used enough that Apple could not trademark the original plain version they showed at the iPhone introduction. Apple had to add background stripes to their trademark application in order to make it unique enough to register:

So, yes, Apple used a phone symbol that people would immediately understand from past experience. They did not go out on a limb and invent something entirely new, not even close.

You say all this stuff like it changes the fact that Samsung ripped off Apple's phone icon. It doesn't.

BTW, when are we getting details on your touch screen and browser engine development?